Charleston Daily Mail
WHEELING, West Virginia -- "Ud tiene el derecho de permancer callado."
Those were the first words spoken by Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy C.R. Bise recently as he placed an illegal immigrant under arrest.
The words are familiar to law enforcement here in the Northern Panhandle.
"It means, 'You have the right to remain silent,' in Spanish," explained Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne, who worked for 27 years as an FBI agent before taking office in 2000. "It's the beginning of the Miranda Warning translated, and every one of our 26 active deputies have been given a copy."
"We're covering all our bases so when these arrests take place so we've broken the language barrier down to the point where they are able to understand why they are being arrested," he said. "Legally, we have to do it. Why? That's a very good question since those rights are for Americans, and illegal immigrants are not Americans."
A 15-mile segment of Interstate 70 passes through the Northern Panhandle. Illegal immigrants seeking work make heavy use of the east-west highway, which runs from Cove Fort, Utah, to Baltimore, Md.
Posted by tyne at May 22, 2007